3 out of 4 stars
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The Valley of Good and Evil by L.E. Barrett is a classic throwback of the pulp fiction genre of the mid-twentieth century. Set in the 1960s in the fictional town of Hallowell, Maine, the book is set around an ensemble cast with multiple problems to solve. Detectives are on scene to investigate a murder while uncovering the new murder has ties to an old murder, and a crime ring too gruesome to mention. Affairs are rampant in this small community, and the cast of characters all have at least one sin to atone for. This is a good crime drama that will leave you guessing from the start of the book to its finish.
Dip is a middle-aged man who runs the town's liquor store. Married but with no children of his own, Dip mentors many of the town's male teenagers, specifically a youngster named Spider. Spider grew up on the wrong side of the tracks but has a good heart, so Dip helps him out of a few tight spots throughout the book. The author does a good job separating the good characters from the bad in this book and does so by giving the good characters more of a backstory and personality. I felt especially connected to Connie, a childless middle-aged housewife of a Maine state senator, who triumphs over evil with an exciting conclusion of events at the end of the book.
Along with running the liquor store, Dip also runs a side operation taking horse race bets. In doing so, Dip associates with some undesirable townspeople, and one specific situation puts Dip in a legal bind he is not sure he can slide out of. This minor side story was compelling enough alone to keep me reading voraciously. The book is just under three hundred pages, making it be a long enough read to make me have to put it down. The writing flows well, and the author sets an excellent scene with each storyline.
I would be remiss to not mention the erotic nature of this book. There are some graphic sex scenes in the book that are not for the squeamish reader. The book also contains a storyline that involves pedophilia. While the author does a good job writing about this subject tastefully, it was still difficult to get through these passages. This specific storyline is a main facet of the book, so reader beware of its contents.
I give The Valley of Good and Evil 3 out of 4 stars, for its excellent writing flow, interesting characters, and squeamish main storyline. I recommend this book for any mature reader looking for a throwback pulp fiction crime novel with sensitive subject material.
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The Valley of Good and Evil
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